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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

LET THERE BE WARMTH

Based on your suggestions when I asked about heating options for the farm, we made some purchases. First, we decided on these oil filled radiator heaters. We bought two for now. I did my research and found that these by DeLonghi were the best reviewed.

DeLonghi radiator heaters

The unique thing about this particular model are these unusual vertical thermal tunnels which allow more heat out into the room.

DeLonghi radiator heater with vertical thermal vents

And wow, did they work great!

We only took one out this weekend (in case I needed to send them back). It was cold and damp on arrival. The temperature in the house was 56 degrees. Outside temp had been in the low 30's overnight and was about 44 degrees when we got there. So the house does stay warmish even without heat.

Anyway, I put it in the bedroom (where we'd want to make sure it was warm when we stay overnight) turned it on and closed the curtain door I blogged about here. In one hour it had warmed to 65 degrees. When we got ready to leave, it had warmed to 70 degrees! Holy cow!

Then we got one of these:

Beautyrest heated mattress pad

I debated between an electric blanket or the heated mattress pad but after some research, I found that the mattress pad was a much more efficient way of keeping you warm. This is because heat radiates upward and around your body, whereas the electric blanket loses more than 50% of its heat because it's on top of you and that heat radiates up and away from where you want it, on your body. Now we haven't slept on it yet but will soon and I'm sure a warm nights sleep will be wonderfully relaxing.

27 comments:

Some suggestions for windows. First pull the interior molding. Typically in older houses you will find big empty spaces behind that. Stuff most of the section with insulation and then seal the edges with spray foam insulation. You'll be surprised how much this helps. And a different idea for helping with windows is to make a wooden frame just slightly smaller than the inside of the window. Then stretch heavy plastic over that. Put the foam edging used along doors around the outside edge then slide into place. Hold in place with mirror mounts. Then you can reuse them every winter for several years before needing to replace the plastic.

Wow, yes, like Tonya said, great suggestions, thank you!! I believe the windows were replaced fairly recently (10 years or so) by the previous owner but I'm going to check that out. I love the idea of the frame. I will definitely look into that. I think it's in my skill set too, ha. Thanks again!!

The "boxes" are typically from switching from older counterweight windows to the newer windows. We found them in every window set in the house when we moved in. Which matched the information we had been given on prior owners changing out the windows.

And I came up with the frame idea when I realized that I could afford to keep buying the shrink plastic every year. It's not cheap. And it looks horrible. The frames are inside and can look nice. You can even use decorative plastic. Next year I'm going to add plastic lace panels to the ones in the front windows to provide a little more privacy when the curtains are drawn back.

You know, that's a good point. While we don't have the kitties out there, I do like the fact that they seem safer like you said. It also seems they actually put out the most heat. It might take a bit longer to warm up (though we really got some quick heat with ours) but they really put out the heat.

Re Kyrsyan's suggestion about filling the voids around windows ... be sure and leave room, if your house has double hung windows and are the old type with counter-weights to make raising them easier. They need to have that channel open ... it will be obvious where if you have them for the weight to go up and down opposite of your window. Also a good time to put new sash cords on the windows;/weights if you have that open and have the weights ...

I would love to have had those old style counterweight windows (such a clever idea), but alas, the previous owner put in regular windows. Actually, not sure they ever had that, I suppose once a long time ago. But it would be interesting to see if they are still there. If I'm going to be checking for insulation, I could look and see what was there before. :-)

I have 40 windows with the counterweights in place and usable. For some reason I had extra counterweight/s and recycled them for money. So, the counterweights are not worthless. Oh, I made a long window into a short window and had weight from that. I forgot.

There is an extra sticky, bendable tape made just for .insulating around windows.

In our last house, winter winds were neck height when I sat on the couch, and I eventually put two eyehooks on each side of the archway and hung a quilt up, separating the kitchen from the living room. The living room stayed toasty, but the kitchen was so cold I had to open the cabinet doors and keep a trickle of water running so the INDOOR pipes wouldn't freeze. Ah yes. The good life.

We put up some curtains to use as doorways last Spring. To keep the cool in certain rooms and now to keep the heat in. It does work great. We rarely have pipe bursting freezes but it's not uncommon. The good life indeed, ha.

I like the idea of the radiators. I am looking for something like that for my new music room. If I am teaching in there for long periods then I don't want to be heating the rest of the house. I might give one a try in the New Year.

Those are great ideas to start with. The heated mattress pad is particularly wonderful. Here in Northern Indiana, when my sons were in their teens and battling constantly, I finally gave them the two heated bedrooms and I slept a winter out in the unheated bedroom. I'd slip out there about an hour before bedtime and turn on the pad, then when I went to bed it was warm and cozy. I always turned it on as soon as I got into bed, because it would stay warm the rest of the night, by my heat alone, and I'd read some rumors of health risks from sleeping on the electric wires. The boys were somewhat more peaceful, and I slept better all that winter than usual. Never had a cold, either. One more easy fix to help winterize your home. A lot of cold air comes in around light switches and outlets where the insulation is missing. At almost any hardware store, you can get thin foam sheets cut to fit behind the plates of those air leaks. Just screw off the faceplate, fit that little layer of foam in there and screw it back on. It'll stop a lot of cold air. Stay warm!

Ha, no worries. I totally forgot about the outlets. That's perfect! I'm sure they are all allowing cold air in. I will DEFINITELY do that soon. Thank you so much. And glad to know about the mattress pad, I will keep that in mind.

Catching up on posts after finally getting my laptop back from the shop...you've certainly got a lot going on out there!I'll be interested to hear what you think about the mattress pad; I considered one but was afraid the wiring would be uncomfortable (Princess and the Pea, here, LOL!). But I bought an electric blanket this year, and have not needed to heat my house above 60F yet. I can bundle up when working around the house and be perfectly comfortable, but when I'm still numb from doing evening chores in single-digit temps, it makes a BIG difference getting into a prewarmed bed! I have my old down comforter on top of the electric blanket, so I think most of the heat is being contained by that.

LOL! Princess and the pea, that's too funny. Hey, it might be like that with me, I'll let you know, ha. Good point about the down comforter, that will hold heat in. Isn't a warm bed so wonderful on a cold night? Stay warm!!

Have you considered insulated roman shades for your windows? They serve dual duty... they add a nice touch decor wise to a room and they can raise the R value of your window quite a bit! There is a specific inner liner material that is used.. its a layering of batting, material and a foil looking material. You can do research on it if you google Warm Window... just in case you aren't familiar with a roman shade, though I bet you are :O).. they draw up and down with a cord system and fold as they go up.. you can either do a very simple one without a locking cord pulley system and just use cleats in your window to wrap your cord or you can use the locking pulley... I would suggest the locking pulley. If you know someone who sews or you feel like taking on a project yourself, there are really good how to's online for making them :O). Any interior design shop could also make them for you but you will save a lot by doing them yourself. :O)...

Wow, thank you for that. I do know about roman shads but I never thought of them as being lined like that with an insulating material. We're talking about maybe next year sometime getting more an a central type a/c and heater system. I think we'd definitely need a more insulating type of window covering. Cool, thanks!!!

I've had heated mattress pads on the beds up at our cabin for over 20 years...they are awesome! I have not had any problems with them and they do a fantastic job! I can't believe how well they have held up over the years...but they look and act like they're brand new.

I'm with Texan...look into the insulated Roman shades...I just had them installed on 10 of our windows at the back of the house...very nice and they really work! Now just 46 more to go! I need to go rob a bank or pick some $$$ off of my money tree!

I could have used one of these a few nights ago when the heater went out. It was 42 inside during the night. I looked like an Eskimo all bundled up in 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of sweats, a beanie and gloves under my quilted blanket and was still cold. Thank goodness the repair man could come out the following morning. Let me know how you like the thermal mattress pad. I just might invest in one. (smile)

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Born in the city, raised in the city, work in the city, but long to live in the country...so, we bought an old farmhouse on acreage in the country, and now the journey begins. This blog will share that journey, as we hope to become more self sufficient and eventually move away from the hustle and bustle of the fast paced life we've led. Along the way, we'll share ideas, photos, plans, recipes, crafts, and hopefully get a lot from you all as well. Welcome to the great state of Texas and our farm, Seda Bolsa Farm!

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